


Waking Up to a New Future

by EricaX



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Amnesia, Bonding, Happy Ending, Wormmon has PTSD, lots of fluff, mentions of abuse, sleepy Ken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28661040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EricaX/pseuds/EricaX
Summary: He wasn't entirely sure how it happened, but after dealing with the abusive Digimon Kaiser, Wormmon suddenly finds himself waking up to the future which is more than he ever dreamed it could be! (Wormmon wakes up with partial amnesia.) Lots of fluff. This is a one-shot.
Kudos: 9





	Waking Up to a New Future

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little drabble I wrote on my phone's note pad when I was bored a while back. Decided to fix it up and post it. T^his is a one-shot. I will NOT be updating this. This is all you'll be getting. Sorry! But I've always loved the dynamic between these two characters and Wormmon deserves all the love in the world! Enjoy! :)

From the shadows of the room, little Wormmon slowly edged closer to the light that emanated off the dozens of screens hanging on the walls. His big sorrowful eyes watched as the Digimon Kaiser laughed maniacally as Kimeramon blasted building after building on the screens.

"That's right! Now nothing can stop me!" cackled the Kaiser, his golden shoulder blades shaking with mirth.

"Oh, Ken... Please. What happened to the kind little boy I met all those years ago...?" Wormmon muttered quietly to himself.

He knew the Kaiser hadn't heard him. His master rarely ever heard him.

A small blinking alarm went off, one of the screens coming up and showing a red dot near the entrance to the lower levels.

Kaiser scowled and huffed impudently. "Ugh, there's always someone ruining my fun! If it's not those meddlesome fools known as my parents, it's that bumbling little insect! And if it's neither of them, it's those pesky kids!" He complained to himself as though Wormmon wasn't in the room.

With a growl, Kaiser turned on his heel and walked to the other side of the room where the screen blinking at him was located. His cape flew behind him silently and menacingly.

"It would seem those little brats managed to get back inside my base. They must think they're so clever!" he sneered, his gloved fingers dancing over the buttons of the screen as he enacted his plans.

Wormmon watched as Kaiser summoned dozens of Bakamon out into the hallways surrounding the entrance the Chosen has entered.

Growing tired of watching his partner torment the Chosen, Wormmon sighed heavily and looked away. An unusual bout of surliness came over him. He was just so sick of it all; so sick of the self pity, so sick of the evil deeds his out of control partner was committing, so sick of being unable to do anything about anything! The words left his mandibles before he even knew he was speaking. "Really, Master? Bakamon? You'd think a genius like yourself could think of something better to attack them with!"

The sound of quick typing paused and silence filled the room.

Wormmon's eyes went wide and his mouth opened in shock; unable to believe his own brazenness. He stared at the back of Kaiser's spiky haired head and began to tremble when Kaiser turned to glare at him behind his purple tinted glasses.

"Excuse me?!" barked Kaiser. He completely turned to Wormmon and glared at him, the expanse of the room between them. "Who exactly do you think you are to question me, WORM?!"

There was a part of Wormmon that wanted to scream back 'No one special, just your DIGIMON PARTNER!' But Wormmon has used up the last of his courage in his previous comment apparently, for his mouth refused to work and the trembling in his body only grew worse.

Kaiser stepped closer to Wormmon, who fought the instinct to cower and scamper off. He would hold his ground. He may not be brave enough to argue with his Ken-chan when he was this enraged, but he would not run.

"I'm talking to you, insect! What makes you think you can speak to me like that?! I am the Digimon Kaiser! You should be grateful I tolerate your presence and let you stay in my base! Remember your place, fool!"

Wormmon nodded to himself, lifting his eyes up to meet the Kaiser's own hidden eyes. "Never. I'll never forget my place. And that's right beside you, Ken-chan!"

This only infuriated the Kaiser even more. "I've told you countless times—- DON'T CALL ME KEN-CHAN!"

Wormmon hadn't even seen the whip in his master's hand; it had come down on him that quick. Kaiser has threatened to use it on him many times before and even come close hitting him but this time the whip actually hit him.

It was the worst pain he'd ever felt. The stinging. Oh!—It overtook his senses and made his skin feel like it was on fire! His nerves were on hyper drive. He couldn't hear or see— all he felt was pain! But even the physical pain didn't come close to the emotional pain that came seconds after.

His Ken-chan had hit him. For so long he's seen him whip countless digimon. But never once did Kaiser use it on him. Until now.

Why?! Where was his kind Ken-chan?! Why wouldn't his sweet Ken come back to him?! What was Wormmon doing wrong?!

The pain took forever to fade and the little digimon lost track of time. Sight, sound, touch—-all those senses were lost to him. Just the physical and emotional pain stayed with him. Not to mention the blackness. Was he unconscious maybe?

Slowly, painfully slow, the pain faded and Wormmon was slowly able to make out sounds and slowly gained feeling back in his little pink pincers. The cold floor wasn't so cold anymore. It was oddly warm and soft. That was the first thing Wormmon noticed. Then the sound. Gone was the mechanical whirring of computers. Gone was the maniacal laughter of the Digimon Kaiser. Gone was the sound of video monitors playing live feed of screaming digimon running from their homes.

Just very soft breathing could be heard. And a soft fan being used as a noise maker.

Wormmon groaned softly and forced his eyes open. It was dark. Darker than the control room. Had the Kaiser turned off the screens and left the room? Doubtful. Kaiser never turned off those screens even when they were unattended. So why was it so dark?

Had he gone blind?

Squinting, Wormmon looked down to see a soft fabric between his pincers. He moved them tentatively and found the material to be very soft and comforting. It felt heavenly on his sore body—-which, now that he thought about it, suddenly didn't feel quite so sore. The stinging from the whip was long gone! How?

Looking around more, Wormmon could barely make out the edges of the room, the ceiling not that far away from his head. So he had in a higher place, judging by that. In the corner of the room was just the tiniest sliver of light coming from the cracks of a door. Where did that come from?

A soft sigh beside him made Wormmon jump. He turned to see a fairly large mound in the blankets. How had he missed that?! Was it moving? Yes. Ever so slightly, the pile of blankets was moving up and down.

Curious, Wormmon carefully moved to get a better look. He went to the other side of the pile so that the tiny bit of light could help him see better.

What his eyes met startled him so badly he gave out a small cry.

It was Ken-chan! Not the Digimon Kaiser! His sweet kind Ken-chan! No spiky hair or glasses. Just Ken, who was sleeping; his eyes closed and his eyelashes fanned over his cheeks. His hair was fanned out over the pillow, straight as a poker and not a spike in sight. Just like in the interview he'd spied Ken watching that one day! Wormmon found him to look so adorable; his memory instantly taking him back to the days when he'd first met Ken.

Too busy staring, Wormmon squeaked in alarm when Ken groaned softly in his sleep and started moving and stretching. He watched as Ken pulled an arm free of the blankets and and reached back behind lo him, where it landed on a collected of small pillows piled there strategically. Ken obviously didn't find what he was reaching for, since his sleepy face scrunched up into a frown and his eyebrows furrowed together. Ken scooted his body until he was laying on his back and turned his head away from Wormmon to look over at what he was trying to reach for. "Wormmon?" Ken called out sleepily, much to Wormmon's surprise.

Wormmon blinked as Ken called out for him again, his partner's voice filled with sluggish concern in his half asleep state.

Unable to resist, Wormmon answered, "Yes, Ke—M-Master?!"

Ken jumped slightly, having not expected Wormmon's voice to be so near nor on the opposite side of the bed.

Ken retracted his arm and turned back over to face Wormmon, his eyes opening half mast. "Wha'did you jus' say?" His words were heavily slurred with sleep and confusion.

Wormmon didn't know what to do. Though the pain was gone, he didn't easily forget the pain of the whip and the last time Ken had asked him that question was still seared into his mind. "Umm—I—umm" he fumbled with his words instead.

Meanwhile, Ken rubbed at his eyes and yawned, clearly doing his best to become more awake. "Wormmon, are you okay? Did you have another nightmare?"

Wormmon didn't know how to answer. Ken never treated him like this. Hadn't he just been yelling at him and punishing him for speaking against him not minutes ago?! What was going on? Wormmon was so confused!

Apparently not answering only made Ken more worried. Wormmon watched and Ken sat up on his elbow and leaned closer to him. A gentle hand reached over and gently rubbed his head. Wormmon could have cried at the tenderness.

"It's alright, Wormmon" soothed Ken softly. "You don't have to say anything. I understand."

Oh, his Ken-chan's voice was so soft and comforting! The complete opposite of the Kaiser's deep and angry voice.

Soon Wormmon found Ken's hands around him and he was being lifted until he was resting on top of Ken's chest while Ken laid on his back. Soft strokes from gentle hands moved up and down Wormmon's back and it felt so good the little digimon could have melted on the spot!

Just when Wormmon thought this dream couldn't get any better, Ken began speaking, "Don't be ashamed, Wormmon. You know I have nightmares too. But we have each other. We're out of the Darkness and we have to keep telling ourselves it'll never get us again. That's what you've told me, right?"

Knowing his Ken-chan was expecting an answer, Wormmon nodded. "Right."

"I don't know where I'd be without you, Wormmon. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me" Ken confessed and Wormmon felt as though his little heart exploded in happiness.

Once again, the complete opposite of the Kaiser. Wormmon wasn't sure what had happened— but he was loving it.

Finally finding his voice, Wormmon confessed, "I'm confused."

"About what?"

Wormmon leaned to the touch of Ken's fingers as they scratched his left anther. "I—-I don't remember what happened. How did we—?! Ke—" he hesitated, then figured it was safe enough. "K-Ken-Chan—- last thing I remember was being in your base—?"

The reaction was instantaneous. Ken jumped up into a sitting position and cradled Wormmon close to his chest, watching him with wide eyes. "What?!"

The sudden movement and change of demeanor caught Wormmon off guard, causing him to wriggle a bit in alarm, but Ken's hold was firm. "I-I'm sorry if I've upset you—" he said out of habit. It was something he said regularly to the Kaiser as a quick way of appeasement.

Ken just studied him, his dark eyes watching Wormmon carefully. "Wormmon, " he began at length. "You haven't upset me. But you are worrying me. Are you feeling alright?" He moved a hand and felt the equivalent of Wormmon's forehead. Can digimon get fevers like humans could, he wondered. "Did you hit your head recently? Why would you possibly say something like that? Is that really the last thing you can remember?" He paused, seeing that he was overwhelming his partner. Ken sighed and collected himself being giving Wormmon a sad smile. "I'm sorry, I asked you a lot at once."

Completely flabbergasted, Wormmon squirmed in Ken's lap, his mind whirling in panic and confusion. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew if he didn't answer correctly, it was possible the whip would be brought back out.

Was this a trick!? A very cruel trick that was the Kaiser was playing with him? Oh, he certainly hoped not. He didn't think he could handle the heartbreak, but how else could this be explained!?

"Wormmon" began Ken when it was clear the little mon wouldn't be able to answer any time soon. "I think you were just having a nightmare. That must be it." Ken nodded to himself and Wormmon noticed that his partner seemed to be trying to convince himself of his own words.

Wormmon took in a deep breath and steeled himself. "I-I don't know what's going on. But you win. You got me. Such a cruel trick from such a cruel evil genius! You must have set this up while I was out after you hit me! That's the only explanation for any of this! I'm sure you've managed to defeat the Chosen, and now tormenting me is all you have left!" His anthers sagged in resignation. As much as he wanted to believe that his kind Ken-chan was back, it simply didn't make any sense. There was simply no way!

But had it really come to this? The cruelty of letting Wormmon see Ken but not having him? "I'm surprised you even let your hair down out of your spikes for this trick" he muttered darkly. "I'm sure you'll blame me later when you have to take the time to spike it up again!"

Ken silently listened, his hands having fallen on Wormmon's sides. They both waited on baited breath.

Wormmon simply closed his eyes and waited for the punch line to come. Waited for Kasier to start laughing manically that his trick had worked.

No laughter came, just a gentle question.

"Wormmon, what is the last thing you remember?"

Morosely, Wormmon answered, not wanting to look up at Ken in the semi-darkness of the room. "You were about to send an attack out on the Chosen after they entered your base. You sent a slew of Bakamon to them before, my guess, sending Kimeramon to them. I insulted you and then you yelled at me and hit me with your whip. The pain was so awful I must have passed out. Now, here I am."

"Wormmon, that was over a year ago."

Wormmon blinked, once again baffled. He dared to look up at his partner, who's gaze held nothing but concern and honesty. "What?"

"Wormmon, that was over a year ago that that happened. You really can't remember anything after that?" Ken asked.

Wormmon wracked his brain, trying to remember, but he drew nothing but a blank. "I'm sorry, Master-but I can't-"

"Stop right there" interjected Ken.

Wormmon flinched, the tone in his partner's voice finally inching ever so closer to the deep authoritative voice of the Kaiser.

Ken raised a finger as Wormmon listened carefully. "Listen to me. Never. NEVER, call me Master. Please don't. I know at one point that's all I had wanted you to call me but now it simply breaks my heart. I never want to hear that word come out of your mouth ever again, do you understand me?"

Wormmon blinked and nodded absently.

"Wormmon, you need to understand, that a lot of time has happened from then to now. I'm not the Digimon Kaiser anymore. That's behind me and every day I bury him further into my past. I'll forever be haunted by him but I'm dedicating my life to making up for all that I did back then."

"R-really?" Wormmon found himself asking.

Ken nodded with a wan smile. "Yes. And do you want to know who saved me from the darkness and inspires me to be a better person everyday?"

Yes! YES! Wormmon wanted to know how his Ken-chan came back. He wanted to know who managed to help him from the darkness and return to his sweet self. He would find that person and thank him over and over again since it was clear Wormmon had never been able to reach him . Oh, he had tried over and over and over again to reach out to his Ken-chan, but the Kaiser only laughed at him and yelled at him and insulted him.

"Who?"

He fondly tapped Wormmon on the forehead with his index finger. "You."

Wormmon started. "M-Me!?" His pincers shook anxiously in front of him as he tried to process that answer.

Ken nodded. "Yes, my little glow worm." Wormmon blushed at the endearment. "You. You never gave up on me. You stayed faithfully by my side even on my darkest days, even when I turned on you. You sacrificed yourself for me by giving up your life to help the Chosen defeat Kimeramon."

Wormmon's eyes were as wide as saucers. "R-really? This isn't a trick!?"

At his question, Ken frowned sadly, scooping Wormmon up and holding him close to his chest so that he could nuzzle his nose between Wormmon's anthers. "It's no trick, Wormmon, I swear it. You saved me. Because of you I was able to find my Crest of Kindness and I later became a Chosen Child! Me! A Chosen!" He pulled away from Wormmon so he could look at his partner in his eyes. "I have friends, Wormmon! All of the Chosen Children are my friends! They're your friends too! All the Chosen Digimon are your friends. You're best friends with Veemon!"

Wormmon blushed, having always been in awe by the blue digimon. "It sounds amazing!"

"Oh, it is, Wormmon! I'm not saying there haven't been bad days and there are still a lot of details I've left out, but for right now all you need to know is that you're safe and loved, okay? It's the middle of the night here. We're in the Human World. My world." Ken gestured to his darkened room.

Wormmon looked away, his eyes wide as the question as to where he was got answered. "The Human World? You returned back home?"

Ken nodded. "I did. My parents were so happy too! Part of my problem back then was that I didn't accept their love for me. But now I do and everything is a lot better!"

"Awww" cooed Wormmon He vaguely remembered seeing glimpses of Ken's parents on the recordings the Kaiser occasionally had watched. "Have I met them? Your parents?"

Ken nodded.

"Do they like me?"

Ken chuckled. "They adore you! I mean, they were a bit startled and wary of you at first, but only because they were worried about me. A lot of bad stuff had been going on when I introduced you to them. It's a long story, but now they like you! You watch my mom cook and watch television with my dad."

Wormmon wasn't entirely sure what 'television' was, but it sounded amazing that he spent time with Ken's parents. He was particularly interested in the cooking part. The thought of food was making the little mon hungry.

Ken laid back on the soft blankets and pillows of his bed, pulling Wormmon close to his chest. He yawned largely, not bothering to hide it. "I'd love to talk more, but I'm very sleepy. I'm sorry you woke up so confused, Wormmon. I don't quite understand what happened to make you lose your memory like that, but I'll speak about it with Koushiro in the morning and we can try to come up with some theories. Did you think maybe you hit your head when I wasn't looking?" His voice was getting sleepier and sleepier with every word.

"How would I know if I did?"

Ken made a soft hum in reply and shrugged his shoulders.

"Who's Koushiro?" echoed Wormmon as slid off Ken's chest and nestled down beside him.

Ken slowly moved until he was laying on his side, gently moving Wormmon along with him. An arm loosely wrapped around Wormmon's torso. "He's one of the older Chosen."

Wormmon went silent, taking a moment to soak it all in. This was really happened. It wasn't a joke. The Kaiser was gone. His sweet Ken-chan was back and was saved by-him!? Wormmon smiled, his heart bursting with happiness. He may have forgotten how it had happened, but it did and that's all that mattered.

"This is really happening..." he mumbled.

Ken nodded, pulling Wormmon closer. "It is. Now, sleep tight, my little warrior. I'll chase your nightmares away."

Wormmon blushed. 'Little Warrior'. Is that how Ken saw him!? Was he a warrior?! Oh, now he wanted to know if Ken had ever allowed him to digivolve! He glanced up and saw that Ken had already fallen back asleep.

That was alright, his questions could wait. He closed his eyes, not able to remember the last time he'd ever been so happy to wake up for the next day.


End file.
